Earth Series

2011 – ongoing

Materials and processes, like life, have a powerful way of dictating their own path. Gaining awareness of and respect for that power is the key to becoming the driving force behind my life and my work. The work is thus a metaphor for building a new life and identity in the pursuit of 'becoming what one might be'.

First, the four life elements are brought together: a metal for earth, the fire of a torch, the water of a quenching bowl and the air that binds the process together. Through long, focused and repeated experimentation, copper – a base metal with powerful properties – is released to its true potential, never allowed to revert to its original state nor to oxidise. The scars are a reminder that change is often a traumatic process, but they are also what confer new beauty and new life.

This body of work started as a vehicle to express my eternal struggle between controlling and letting go. Over the years, it has become to embody positive change and permanent tranformation.